S1c Clarence Merton Caskey

Clarence Merton Caskey was a member of the Sea Scouts in Port Angeles, Washington, when he was a child.

The Sea Scouts, an affiliate of the Boy Scouts, teaches boating skills. Port Angeles is south of Vancouver Island.

Mr. Caskey, born Sept. 18, 1921 in Sequim, Washington, joined the Navy on Oct. 10, 1939. He was a seaman 1st class on the U.S.S. Arizona when he was killed in the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor on Dec. 7, 1941.

His father, Earl, an Army veteran of World War I, was a shingle sawyer. His mother, Nellie Mae Draper Caskey, was a homemaker.

By the time of the 1930 Census the family lived just west of Sequim at Carlsborg, Washington. Clarence attended school nearby at Roosevelt High, where he completed 10th grade.

After his death his father joined the Army Engineers and served on transports. His mother worked in the Army motor pool. His brother, Robert, joined the Navy and earned a Purple Heart while serving on a carrier, the USS Enterprise. It was the most decorated ship in the war, earning 20 battle stars. A sister, Betty, trained as a nurse.

His mother wrote to the Port Angeles newspaper in April 1942 to explain their actions.

“It is going to take each and every one of us to win the peace and freedom our boys fought so hard for at Pearl Harbor and Bataan. There are going to be many more such battles and the more willing men and women we have in the service the sooner we will reach the victory that the United Nations must have.”

A plaque in memory of Mr. Caskey and three other Port Angeles war dead was installed at their old elementary school, Lincoln, in 1957. There is a cenotaph in his memory at Mount Angeles Memorial Park at Port Angeles. His father is buried there.

Sources: Port Angeles Evening News; The Olympic Tribune; Peninsula Daily News; Census; Navy enlistment records and muster rolls. This profile was researched and written on behalf of the U.S.S. Arizona Mall Memorial at the University of Arizona.